Hidden Conspiracy
by LuciaStar
Summary: A rewrite of Devil May Cry 4. A highly respect knight, Anthony, murders His Holiness. Credo sends Nero and Gloria to capture Anthony. Why did Anthony murder Sanctus? What is his purpose?
1. Birds of a Feather

"2000 years ago, the Dark Knight Sparda turned against his demon brethren and took up his sword for the sake of mankind. Though despite his brave efforts in our names, I fear some have forgotten the truth of that great sacrifice. If the events of that terrible time were to reoccur, the fusing of both the demonic and human realms, we, weak humans, would have no means by which to oppose our submission." The chathedral was filled with hooded and non-hooded men and women, whom were listening intendly to His Holiness' sermon. Scattered about were the Order's knights, some were up in front, and others were at the back. One hooded knight in particular was leaning against the wall, his hands in his uniform's pockets. He begun walking towards the stage where His Holiness, Sanctus, was speaking...

"And so I ask you to unite!" The hooded knight pulled out a strange, silver weapon...

"And pray that even if such a dark time of chaos were to revisit us, our gracious Savior would shelter us from the storm. Let us-" A sound cut off Sanctus' speech.

...A bullet hitting the floor was all to be heard...

...shock begun to fill the room as they saw the culprit...

..._one of their own knights._

Sounds of terror, fear and morbid wonder begun.

They all questioned: Why would someone do this, and for what purpose? Why would someone of the faithful want to kill His Holiness? The hooded knight turned toward his former comrades, whom were running towards him; he grabbed his sword and prepared himself. One of the head knights, a man with brown hair and a brown goatee, checked on His Holiness. "No..." he murmured under his breath as the knights fell around him. A young woman with light-brown hair, was running away with a young boy in an Order knight's uniform. She spotted the hooded knight heading towards her brother. "Credo!" she yelled, pushing the white-haired youth's hand out of hers. Hoping she could protect him somehow, she begun to run towards him. One of the fallen knights begun recovering and headed towards the hooded knight. He deflected him back, causing her to stumble over him.

She struggled to stare up at the hooded knight; her heart begun racing. More knights ran up to the hooded knight, including the young boy. "Nero!" she shouted at him as Credo helped her up. "Take Kyrie and get out of here!" Nero yelled at the two.

He and the knights begun desperately cornering the hooded knight as the brother and sister ran off with the fleeing civilians. "Where can you run off to now, Anthony!" Anthony, the hooded knight, simply smirked and shrugged, holding his bloody sword.

Nero stood in front of the knights, glaring at Anthony. "Go. Help the others. I'll deal with him myself." He whispered to them.

"Are you sure, Nero?"

"Anthony is stronger than you are."

Nero nodded. "I'm sure. His jacked up notion of fair play pisses me off... might as well express that to him." Anthony lifted his head; A cocky grin slowly painting itself on his face as he replied, "Then come on, kid."

Nero walked in a circle around his opponent. "I never liked you the first day I saw you..." he murmured as he stared him down with an icy glare; Anthony chuckled. "What are you laughing at?" Nero said as he reeved up his sword, the Red Queen. "I told you to come on, kid... or, are you too chicken?" Anthony said as he prepared himself, grinning softly.  
Having enough of this guys cocky attitude, Nero went for him head on... only to have his sword overpowered by Anthony's. Nero chuckled to himself and begun rolling up his sleeve, "They definitely weren't stupid to have chosen you as a knight..." As he spoke, a ghostly image of a demonic arm pushed Anthony into the statue of Sparda.  
"It looks like I may have underestimated your abilities..." he smiled despite himself as he looked at Nero's demonic arm. He nodded towards the fallen knights, directing Nero's attention to them. Looking in the same direction, Nero noticed that the fallen knights had a demonic appearance. _Why?_ he pondered as he looked back, about to ask... when he noticed Anthony was no where to be seen.

A voice begun echoing throughout the room:

"We're the same, you and I..."

Nero looked around for the source of the voice.

"And them." Anthony said as he appeared near the entrance, pointing towards the fallen knights.

"What are you talking about!" Nero demanded. Anthony looked at Nero, a smile appearing on his face. "You will come to know the meaning soon enough but for now, business beckons." He waved as he dashed out of the door.


	2. Darkness

As Nero heard the footsteps of the returning knights, he tried to roll down his sleeve to hide his demonic arm. "He is not here?" The returning knights asked. Nero shook his head, "He distracted me for one moment... and the next thing I know, he was by the entrance."

"As long as you're not hurt..." Kyrie said as she walked up, her voice full of worry and concern. "You still haven't recovered from your previous fight..." she added, placing her hand in his and smiled. Nero smiled back.

He remembered something that was hidden beneath his uniform, and went to dig for it. He pulled out a blue box and handed it to Kyrie. "For me...?" she whispered, looking up at Nero who nodded. She opened the box; inside was a golden necklace. It's pendant resembled a butterfly. She smiled as she put it on.

A beautiful, dark-skinned woman with short blonde hair appeared, her Order's uniform was unusual and quite revealing. Beside her was Credo, the head knight and Kyrie's older brother. He looked at Nero, motioning for him to come over. Nero looked at Kyrie and then walked over towards Credo and the woman.

"You two must capture Anthony. He must come back _alive_," he demanded. "You are to-" Screams and the shaking of the chathedral cut Credo off. They all stared at each other and ran out.

Outside, a civilian was trying to run away. "S-Someone help me!" he shouted as he stumbled to the ground. "Is it him?" Nero asked. Gloria shook her head. "No. I've worked with Anthony a couple of times... this is not his doing." Kyrie begun cowering behind Nero, looking to him for protection. Nero narrowed his eyes and looked at the dark-haired man and Kyrie's brother, "Santino! Credo! Take care of Kyrie!" he grabbed his sword off of his back and headed towards the demons. "Gloria and I got this..."

Credo nodded as he turned Kyrie around, motioning for her to run with Santino, "Report back as soon as you can, and be careful!" he told them before running off.

Along the way Kyrie spotted a demon heading towards a child; she ran towards the child in order to protect it. The demons where pushed back by the force of Nero's Red Queen. "Lay a finger on her and you're dead meat!" he warned the demons.

Looking back at Kyrie he said, "Go! Get outta here!" She helped the child up and ran off.

The demons started to head towards them.

"Heh... well Gloria, time to show me what you're made of," he looked at the demons, rolling up his sleeve.

She pulled daggers out of her boots. "Same to you, cutie," she said as she begun fighting the demons.

Nero shot the last remaining demon. "Not bad..." he said to Gloria.

"Not bad yourself." she replied, smiling.

"I suppose we should start our mission... should we split up or work together?"

"Split up," she responded almost business-like, "we'll meet up time to time and tell eachother what we found about about Anthony. Clues, information on him, etc. Understood?"

"Understood." Nero said as he begun walking ahead; Gloria heading the other direction.

"Where will we meet first?" he asked.

"Outside of Fortuna Castle. We should be able to obtain some information by then..." she responded.

Behind a wall, easedropping on their conversation, leaned a hooded man who begun walking away...


	3. Drive!

He was now in the library, his hood down; his pale blue eyes narrowing. "Tsk!" he threw a book down as placed his feet on a desk. "I can't find anything!" he shouted in frustration. He looked around the room, trying desperately not to focus on the fact that he could not find any information on that boy's arm...

The door was starting to creak open. He swiftly put his hood back on, and turned his head to see who was coming in.

"You..." Gloria said as she stepped into the room.

Anthony grinned, "Well, hello beautiful~! I suppose they sent you after me?" Reaching for his sword, he sighed sadly and said: "It's quite... saddening that things had to end up like this, Gloria. After all we've been through..."

Gloria pulled out her blades, sadness in her eyes. "It didn't have to come to this, Anthony..."

He prepared his sword, "You're not giving me a choice, babe." he said as he ran towards her.

The fight was going no where, fast. Anthony pulled out two handguns. "W-What?" Gloria exclaimed as she dodged his bullets. "...My, you're full of surprises aren't you, Anthony?" she brushed the dirt off her uniform. Her tone changed as she pointed towards the black and silver guns: "Those weapons are looked down upon! Why does a highly respected knight have them?"

Anthony simply shrugged and begun placing the handguns back under his uniform. "Who knows?"

Gloria walked towards him, "Just what are you planning...?" she asked. "Why did you kill His Holiness? What is your purpose?"  
"And why should I tell you? You, who is after me?"

Silence filled the room. Anthony spoke first.

"Even if we were close, my dear, Glora; this does not mean I should tell you everything. You, like everyone else here, were being deceived by me."

She appeared to have smiled.

He turned away, "I have to finish the job that was given to me."

"And so do I."

"... Then we shall meet again." he begun walking away.

"Anthony!" she yelled at him. He paid her no heed and waved a 'Farewell'

She stared at the closing door. Anthony had came into the Order a week after she had; he joined the Order under his parents wishes. Gloria and him had worked together countless times. She was the one to watch at how fast Anthony had become one of the Order's knights.

_"You're quite... strong" she said, sultry. _

_A cocky grin slowly formed, "I've had... a lot of training." he replied._

_"...Who trained you?"_

_"My father."_

_"You're father must have been... quite the looker, too." she looked at him, a flirty smile played on her lips. Anthony chuckled, "Perhaps so. Hmmm, my place or yours~?"_

_"... You're a pervert."_

_"Whoa, babe! You're leading me on!" he laughed and leaned in close to her, whispering in her ear: "Though I wouldn't mind..."_

_She laughed. "Nor would I..."_

...

She walked towards the same exit Anthony went through.


	4. Lock and Load

Anthony wandered further into the castle. He glanced at a mirror and knocked on it. "Hm..." he murmured and nodded. The mirror was indeed strange. He could destroy it if he wanted to, and give a sign to the kid that he was here... or he could be lazy and not do it. Besides, he had a job to do and playing around would only stall him.

He walked on.  
Turned around, pulled out his shotgun and aimed at the mirror.

Anthony turned back, and continued to walk off as the pieces of glass fell the floor.

The one who brought forth the job to him was on a mission to exterminate some demons. Angelo's, things that Anthony had just recently encountered, that the Order controlled apparently, kept taking her jobs on her. She was annoyed, and suspicious. She gathered some information on Fortuna, and knew about Anthony.

_That's how he got here._

He slipped off his hood again.

He had been here for roughly four months and already he was one of the Order's respected knights. They recognized his strength but, even so, some were suspicious.

_Credo stood against the wall, watching Gloria and Anthony talk about their latest prey. After the conversation, Anthony begun walking near Credo's direction._

_"... You're not here for the reason you claimed." Credo murmured. Anthony stopped; a small smile started to form. _

_"I am here to respect my parents wishes. Nothing more, nothing less."_

_Credo glared at him._

_Anthony glared back._

_"Tell me more about your... history." Credo said with hostility._

_Anthony nodded, "My parents believed in what Sparda had done, and believed he did what was best. They tried to raise me into those beliefs, but I... didn't fully believe. I believe Sparda did mankind a favor, but that is simply that. However, when I was sixteen, demons had come to attack our town and slaughtered my parents as well as my brother. It was then I decided to journey about, seeking revenge... until, I finally settled down here."_

_"When was this?"_

_"Two months before I joined the Order."_

_"I never seen you around."_

_"... I never believed." _

_Silence filled the room._

_"I know who you are... and I won't tell anyone unless you betray us. __**Anthony**__, the __**Devil Hunter**__." Credo's tone was serious. He turned around and begun to walk off._

_Anthony glared at him from behind and continued walking down the corridor to the room he was assigned to._

Anthony stopped midway in the castle.

_'I won't tell anyone unless you betray us' _ran through his mind.

He started laughing. 

A man with dark, curly hair was getting prepared for an adventure, behind him stood Kyrie. She wanted to chase after Nero, to see if he was alright but, the Order wouldn't allow her to do so unless she had someone with her. That someone was Santino: He was about 25 years old. He looked up at Kyrie, and smiled. "I'm ready now, shall we go?" he asked her sweetly.

Kyrie smiled and nodded. "Yes."


End file.
